As youngest of four farm kids, Saints guard learned scrappy

Senior's main focus: 'Defense wins games'

Senior's main focus: 'Defense wins games'

December 10, 2007|By Ryan Deal, rdeal@aberdeennews.com

Jason Heien of Presentation College is known for his ball-hawking defense and competitiveness, which are things he perfected while growing up on his farm outside of Gettysburg. Heien's competitive drive came from being the youngest of four children. “Being the youngest one in my family, I always kind of had to work harder to get what I wanted,” said Heien, who is a senior. “If you work harder than anybody else, you will get what you want. Like diving after a loose ball. If you want it more than they do, you will end up with the ball.” Last season, Heien collected 17 steals, which was tied for third on the team with Jared Koopman, the other starting guard for the Saints this season. Heien's defensive prowess was another thing he picked up at an early age. “Ever since I was young, I was taught that defense wins games,” Heien said. “An old junior high coach was big on defense, and you got to get stops on defense so you can do stuff on the offensive end. That is how you win games.” Heien, 23, and his two older brothers spent countless hours playing basketball on the farm in the family shop. Heien said the competitiveness among he and his brothers helped him become a college athlete. Family lessons: Both his brothers also played college basketball. Cory, 26, played at Mount Marty College for four years. Eric, 24, also played at Mount Marty College and later transferred to South Dakota State University. “Me and Eric were always close,” Heien said. “It was always between us two who was harder on each other. Cory, being quite a bit older, helped out a lot, too.” Wayne Heien was also instrumental in his son's basketball success. “My dad has been a big factor in my basketball life,” Heien said. “He has taught me from the ground up, since basically kindergarten. He has a lot to do with where I'm at right now, too. “My dad was big on if there was something to do with sports and if we wanted to go do it, he would let us. He let us off (work) and go get better at what we wanted to do.” Model Saint: First-year coach Matt Sevareid realized right away Heien played a competitive style of basketball. “He is a guy that takes a lot of pride in his defense,” Sevareid said. “He can guard the other team's best players. There is no job that he won't do. He will take a charge. “He will dive on the floor for a loose ball. He does all the little jobs. It does not matter what the box score says as far as how many points he has. He just does the little things and takes pride in doing those little things that some guys don't usually like to do.” The other seniors on the team are Michael Heim (Cresbard) and Abram Albee (Rochester, Minn.). Sevareid hopes Heien sets a standard for Presentation College men's basketball. “Jason is a great leader,” Sevareid said. “As long as I'm here, he is a guy that will be a model of what I'm looking for in a Saint. A guy that, hopefully in a couple of years, these freshman and sophomores will remember how hard he plays and how much it means to him.”